Appropriate clothes or not. Today I decided to wear my hat for the first time… There was a lot of staring on the street, but honestly I don’t mind standing out, after all life is too short to be mediocre.
Peter took this picture of me after I got back, in front of my poster of the 1997 Rijksmuseum’s exhibit “Chapeau, Chapeaux”
I will start new projects soon!
It’s been a while since I last posted.
Please accept my apologies for that and also my best wishes for this Christmas.
The truth is I have not been feeling that well, but gradually I’m getting back on my feet, and soon I will be my old millinery self, or so I hope.
As you may know from my previous posts (and the low quality of my pictures), I was camera-less. I had lent my camera to my brother Jose Manuel. He recently came back from a 2 month trip to Cape Town (and surroundings), and what can I say, it was well worth it.
The pictures he took in the Kalahari desert (and I’ve only seen a handful) are awsome.
I’m sure you’ll agree… (click on the pictures to enlarge them).
Aaargh! It took forever!
The fact that the party was cancelled, I wasn’t even here on the day in question, and then took some holidays, did not help speed up the project.
But here you can see a couple of pictures of the finished thing:
The picture is quite awful (I haven’t recovered my camera yet), but you can get a vague idea of the kind of label I’m using.
Some time ago I bought JET TEC Polysilk Adhesive paper (10 A4 sheets, ordering code 3693 JB). No idea if it gets manufactured any more (I bought it at FNAC and they don’t have it any more). It’s a shiny textile with an adhesive backing.
I made my labels on the computer (remember you can print a background color also like I did). Then I printed it on my inkjet printer.
When I first started making these lables I had a problem with the ink bleeding when it got wet (like when wearing the hat with wet hair). I bought something to help with that called PermaFix inkjet fixative. It’s supposed to seal and protect inkjet images against UV and water. This time I have sprayed this on my label, so I should have no problems. One other thing, as you can see I cut it with m zig zag scissors.
It’s not the first time I put combs on a hat, but I decided to improve on the idea this time.
I have taken four wire joiners, opened one side with a screwdriver, and slipped the edge of the elastic cord inside, so the edge sits at one side and the cord comes out in the middle.
I started with a pretty long cord but finally reduced it to 10 cm long (including the bit that goes into the joiner).
The joiner then slides vertically between the stitches of the sweatband, and as you put it in a horizontal position it stays in place. Pretty neat!… and the hat stays really well on the head, you just have to grab hat by the combs, pull them away from the hat, position the hat on the head and push the combs into your hair (pushing the comb from below towards the top)
To keep the cut edge of the grosgrain ribbon from fraying my friend Nina has recommended that I apply a little bit of white glue with the tip of a pin. It has worked really well, it’s not fraying and the glue has dried transparent (and it doesn’t shine):
I just had to show you. Isn’t she great? My mobile phone camera didn’t pick up the colors too well but you can see she’s a beautiful lady with a wonderful hat! And I betcha a couple of those boxes contain hats in them!
I’ve been thinking about what to do next (although I promise I will finish my Catherinettes hat this week and give it the inaugral day out it deserves, pictures included).
I’ve been looking at my hoods and capelines for some inspiration (by the way I thought I had lost them, but in the end it turned out they were tucked away in a “safe” place).
You can also take a peek at my hat felt hoods:
The printed ones are really cool, and also the “racoon” finished one.
You know what? I think I will do an easy felt hat (to get my spirits up) using my Itaian hat block that can be blocked in one go (crown and brim together), and perhaps after that do a fabric hat from the japanese book? What do you think?
I love this article titled Know These Five Customer-Types, that comes from the magazine British Millinery (April 1949 issue). The idea is to help salesgirls and their “smooth selling technique”. Apparently (in 1949) women spent fifteen to thirty minutes over the process of buying a hat.
First there is the customer who is always in a hurry.
“These women are often adopting a pose of self-importance. Most women have time enough when choosing a hat. They know it cannot be done too hurriedly. However, with the hurried customer make a special effort to realise her importance-apparently. You will find frequently that she displays a surprising amount of patience when handled tactfully.” (more…)
I found an interesting little on-line video about a Dutch milliner called Anneke Langenberg (I didn’t know anything about her before this video). I think the idea of this website is to offer youngsters a glimpse into different careers. On the left handside of the page you have to click on Hoedenmaker (hatmaker) in order to see the video:
http://www.scholieren.tv/site2.0/videoplayer.asp?id=547&site=scholieren&partner=scholieren
I for one would not have minded starting a career in hat making when I was 18 (instead of going to Law school, which must be one of the most boring things in the universe).
Powered by WordPress